Stent as a bridge to surgery or immediate colectomy for malignant right colonic obstruction: propensity‐scored, national database study

Background The aim of this study was to compare perioperative outcomes of urgent colectomy and placement of a self‐expanding metallic stent followed by colectomy for patients with malignant right colonic obstruction. Right‐sided malignant obstruction is less common than left‐sided. Stenting for malignant left colonic obstruction has been reported to reduce postoperative complications. However, the impact of stenting for malignant right colonic obstruction remains undefined. Methods The study included patients with right‐sided malignant obstruction or stenosis undergoing colectomy between April 2012 and March 2017 identified from a nationwide database. Propensity score matching analysis was used to compare mortality and morbidity rates, proportion receiving a stoma and postoperative stay between urgent colectomy and stent groups. Results From 9572 patients, 1500 pairs were generated by propensity score matching. There was no significant difference in in‐hospital mortality between the urgent colostomy and stent groups (1·6 versus 0·9 per cent respectively; P  = 0·069). Complications were more common after urgent colectomy than stenting (22·1 versus 19·1 per cent; P  = 0·042). Surgical‐site infection was more likely with urgent colectomy (7·1 versus 4·4 per cent; P  = 0·001). There was no significant difference between the two groups in anastomotic leakage (3·8 versus 2·6 per cent; P  = 0·062). The proportion of patients needing a stoma was higher with urgent colectomy than primary treatment with stents (5·1 versus 1·7 per cent; P  < 0·001). Postoperative stay was longer after urgent colectomy (15 versus 13 days; P  < 0·001). Conclusion Stenting followed by colectomy in patients with malignant right colonic obstruction may provide more favourable perioperative outcomes than urgent colectomy.